Bell: Calgary Olympics now a walking dead bid

An overflow crowd in the lobby of City Hall watches as Calgary 2026 BidCo's Mary Moran and Scott Scott Hutcheson answer council questions before a vote on a motion to end the 2026 Olympic bid process on Wednesday October 31, 2018. Gavin Young/PostmediaGavin Young / Postmedia

On a bid even the chairman of city council’s Olympic committee wants to kill — and he loves the Olympics.

But because it was eight and not 10 council members who want to axe the bid, the Olympic bid goes to a vote of Calgarians.

An Olympic bid the majority of city councillors still can’t figure out, except the total taxpayer tab is almost $3 billion with the city in for $390 million in cash.

An Olympic bid rolled out as mail-in ballots have been cast, advance voting is in a few days and voting day is in a week and a half.

An Olympic bid where the city is not setting up open houses explaining the details because there isn’t time.

An Olympic bid where the Yes side will spend a million bucks and carpet-bomb the city with ads and commercials.

An Olympic bid where they move around money, cut the security and housing budget, can’t move the Vic Park bus barns using Olympic cash and chase some kind of phantom insurance policy to cover cost overruns — while some councillors speak of “creative accounting.”

Alas, it is also an Olympic bid where the Yes councillors wax poetic about Calgarians having the right to vote when they opposed Calgarians having a vote.

It was Notley who forced the city to have a vote.

And it is an Olympic bid where those who whine most about misinformation are the ones who love to go behind closed doors and give us as little info as possible.

Even by city hall’s lowest of low standards, Wednesday is low. It is clear the contempt some city politicians have for the people paying the bills.

And beware. If you criticize them, you’re being divisive.

So much to tell, so little space.

When you’re at a circus, there’s a lot to see.

Coun. Sean Chu tries to allow the public to speak at the council drone-a-thon. The Olympic bid corporation makes its Yes pitch. Why not a microphone for a little No?

Chu is shot down.

Olympic bid boss Scott Hutcheson decides to be snarky, giving the No side city councillors a little of the high-and-mighty treatment.

“Some of you will say today there’s still not enough information and others will say we don’t understand the financial deal well enough.

“But those are convenient excuses to undermine what has been a very thorough process.”

Mary Moran, Calgary 2016 CEO (C) and Scott Hutcheson, Calgary 2016 chair (R), wait as city council read out votes as Calgary city council on Wednesday, October 31, 2018 voted to go ahead with a plebiscite vote for the 2026 Olympics. Jim Wells/Postmedia

Coun. Jyoti Gondek would later speak of this “misguided scolding’” and the “nuanced accusations” and “the tactics of black and white debate.”

Coun. Druh Farrell talks about similar comments made behind closed doors Tuesday where people on the No side are painted as not caring about Calgary as much as the Yes side.

Then Druh asks the question on every reasonable person’s mind.

“If we’re struggling to understand the complexity of this new agreement, how can we expect Calgarians to understand?”

Calgarians are expected to watch the Olympic commercials, vote Yes and not ask questions.

As for city hall brass, they admit the city doesn’t have a lot of money lying around for big projects.

City manager Jeff Fielding does say they broke a promise to Calgarians by not having an Olympic deal before this late hour.

Coun. Jeromy Farkas tries to get the vote moved back a month and fails.

Sutherland slams Farkas and says he made insulting and degrading comments in a certain scribbler’s copy.

Nenshi doesn’t say much. He knows he’s won this battle.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was photographed during debate on a motion to end the 2026 Olympic bid process on Wednesday October 31, 2018. Gavin Young/Postmedia

The mayor says the bid is “innovative” and “way to figure out a thorny problem” and an old lady told him she wanted a vote so he’s not voting to kill the bid.

Nenshi’s council buddy Gian-Carlo Carra suggests we focus on the good stuff.

Wonder if Carra knows a lot of folks in east Calgary are thinking No.

Coun. Evan Woolley has his old Grade 2 scrapbook in hand, where his teacher writes to say she enjoyed learning about the Olympics with him.

Woolley says there’s a difference between the 1988 Olympics and today.

Back then, it was driven by the community. Now it’s driven by bureaucrats.

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